DRAFT Steering Committee Meeting Notes,September 16, 2011

ATTENDEES (* by phone & online):

Shelley DuTeaux, ARB – Co-Chair
John Kennedy, US EPA – Co-Chair
Charles Pearson, ARB
Kathy Coulter, Y-S AQMD
Karen Riveles, OEHHA
Bob Blaisdell, OEHHA / Kevin Chao, CDPH *
Jim Wagoner, BCAQMD*
Robert Knowles, ATSDR
Dr. Charles Mosher, MCAPCD*
Trent Procter, USFS*
Dean Peterson, San Mateo County DEH*
Trevor Anderson, CAlEMA*

Welcome and Upcoming Training Announcements and Incidents of Note

Training

ICS 300-400 October 3-6 at USEPA Region 9. (Class is now full.)

Ammonia Safety Training Institute annual training conference November 14-18 in Watsonville, CA. Notice to be posted on the CARPA website.

Recent Incidents

Macro Plastics Fire in Fairfield on July 26. This fire was in the BAAQMD jurisdiction; however, the plume from the fire impacted areas within the Yolo-Solano AQMD. The BAAQMD responded to the fire and took and analyzed several summa canisters samples. ARB and OEHHA analyzed the results and found increased levels of PAHs within the hotzone, but near-background readings in downwind and upwind locations.Kathy Coulter reported that Yolo-Solano AQMD sent out an Envirofacts notice with fire information and health messages.

Wild fires. Smoke impacts from the Lion and Avalanche Fires was discussed. Dr. Mosher reported that for the Avalanche Fire in Yosemite NP he monitored particulate matter levels measured at several monitoring stations in the area of the fire and posted these data on the district’s website. The Avalanche Fire was a lightning-caused fire which the Park managed for resource benefits. Dr. Mosher relayed that he denied a permit request by the Park to increase the acreage of the firebecause of the adverse air quality impacts which would result. Dr. Mosher also relayed that he coordinated with his Public Health Officer counterpart in Kern County to help clarify the appropriate use of,and messaging on, respirator masks for Central Valley community members affected by the Lion Fire in the Sequoia National Forest. Jim Wagoner reported that there were 100s of lightning-strike fires in July in Northern California, but they had an overall minimal impact on land and air quality issues.

Trent Procter made a request of CARPA to facilitate a Sequoia National Forest After Action Review on how effective the smoke impacts notifications and outreach were conducted during the Lion Fire. The CARPA Co Chairs were amenable to providing this assistance. Kathy Coulter will take the lead in coordinating CARPA involvement in the review. Trent indicated that the evaluation could be done over the winter months after fire season.

John suggested that the Data Subcommittee could develop monitor siting criteria as a tool to accompany the CARPA monitoring/sampling plan as a guideline for CARPA agencies to use for air emergency responses. The SC endorsed the suggestion.

Action Items:

Trent and Kathy will begin planning an After Action Review session sometime this winter.

Shelley and Dr. Mosher may discuss further issues with respirators and the possibility of discussing masks at a future CCLHO meeting.

John and Charles, and other members of the Data Subcommittee, will develop monitor siting criteria and bring back to the SC when completed.

Steering Committee Business

  • Meeting minutes of the July 8, 2011 meeting were approved.
  • Shelley handed out copies of the July 2011 CARPA Newsletter.
  • Shelley demonstrated the new CARPA Steering Committee portal hosted by CCE. The portal is the work place for posting and working on documents for CARPA Steering and Subcommittee members and will replace the Steering Committee portal currently on the CARPA webpage.
  • Next Summit.We discussed ideas about if/when/where to hold a future CARPA Summit. All acknowledged the scarcity of funding resources available and the need to explore other, less expensive options for the next summit. The SC then discussed possible funding sources and the option of one of the member agencies applying for a DHS grant to fund the summit. Dean Peterson said his BT Coordinator has experience in writing DHS grant applications. Karen offered to follow up with Dean. All the SC members are encouraged to look into possible funding sources. The SC also discussed the possibility of piggy backing onto other conferences, and also developing a curriculum track at Continuing Challenge and/or the CUPA Conference.

Action Items:

SC members to send newsletter articles to Shelley by October 15th; Publication date for next newsletter in November.

Shelley willsend the web portal link to SC members. [Completed]

SC members continue to look into possible summit venues and funding sources.

Karen tofollow up with Dean Petersen on the feasibility of a DHS grant application.

Shelley to send hard copies of the CARPA Final Report to Jim and Kevin [Completed]

Subcommittee Report Outs

Data Subcommittee

  • Joe Schaefer of the EPA ERTwill give a webinar to subcommittee members on September 27 on EPA’s new data collection and management system, called VIPER. SC members are welcome to join the webinar. There will be an in-person demonstration at Region 9 on November 8th.
  • A webinar will be scheduled in the near future on the using of the CARPA sampling and monitoring plan.
  • The subcommittee is continuing to explore the possibility of conducting a PM monitor comparison study. A smoke chamber would be needed to conduct such a study. There is no definite plan to proceed with the study at this time.
  • The subcommittee is considering an upcoming training webinar on the Sampling Plan.

Data to Message Subcommittee

  • Libby was not in attendance to give a full report of the subcommittee. Robert Knowles attended in her place and will report back any Subcommittee requests.
  • The subcommitteewas exploring the possibility of revising the Wildfire Smoke Guide based on Hoopa experiences. But following the latest conference call with Curtis Miller and a better understanding of their ER studies, the subcommittee decided that the state of the science on public health effects is reflected in the current version. No changes are considered at this time, and SC members are encouraged to continue to distribute recommendations from the Wildfire Smoke Guide during incidents.
  • Next subcommittee conference call is October 5 at 1:30 to 3:00 pm with a scheduled presentation on heat events and air qualityby RupaBasu(OEHHA).

Message to Audience Subcommittee

  • Kathy mentioned the subcommittee is meeting approximately quarterly.
  • The subcommittee is interested in getting more information or a better link on wildfire smoke health impact on Inciweb.
  • Subcommittee is considering a comprehensive plan for Joint Information Centers (JICs).
  • Kathy will coordinate with Trent on developing the Sequoia National Forest After Action Review of the Lion Fire.
  • Next subcommittee conference call is scheduled for December 1, 2011.

Action Items:

Subcommittee chairs to continue to develop rosters for the subcommittee members to use for emergency contacts.

Shelley to recruit Kyle’s (OER student assistant) to help Kathy contact M-A members.

Subcommittee chairs can now start posting information on new CARPA portal (document drafts, planning documents, rosters, meeting minutes and agendas, etc).

Meeting adjourned at 12:30am

Next Meeting

Friday, November 4, 2011 9:30am – 12:30pm, CDPH Richmond Lab.

Draft Steering Committee Minutes – Sept 16, 2011 MeetingPage 1 of 3